When a picture doesn’t tell a thousand words: How Glastonbury reacted to Roe being overturned

A sense of emotion like that is extremely difficult to capture on camera, writes Alex Hickson

Towards the end of Lorde’s set, she performed a monologue about women’s reproductive rights (Getty)

There’s nothing quite like a music festival to feel and hear united passion in a crowd of thousands. This year’s Glastonbury Festival had its fair share of unifying moments. Unsurprisingly, not one member of the crowd was silent for Paul McCartney’s performance of “Hey Jude” – everyone joined in. But this year, there was another sense of unity at the Somerset festival – it was one of fury.

Those who attended the famously “lefty-loving” festival crawled out of their tents on Friday morning to hear with shock and indignation that the almost 50-year-old Roe v Wade decision had been overturned by the US Supreme Court, effectively removing a person’s right to have a safe and legal abortion.

That day, we were treated to several spectacular artists venting their absolute disgust with the decision on stage. Musicians including Olivia Rodrigo, Lily Allen, Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers, Kendrick Lamar and Megan Thee Stallion all included furious mentions of the overturned law in their performances.

Part of my job is to select the best images that encapsulate how people are feeling when they protest seismic political events. As picture editors, we often select images that show people holding placards, shouting slogans or stoically ignoring acts of aggression from people who disagree with them.

Often, these images are most powerful when a single individual is pictured in an act of defiance. My mind immediately jumps to the man who faced down the row of tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Another more recent image from Ieshia Evans shows truncheon-carrying Baton Rouge police officers rushing a young Black woman standing calmly in the road during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2016. It has since also become an image of resistance.

But it’s difficult to convey the depth of feeling you hear while standing in a muddy field with thousands of people bellowing “My body, my motherf***in’ choice!” with Megan Thee Stallion.

Towards the end of Lorde’s set, she performed a monologue about women’s reproductive rights, saying: “Here’s another secret – you possess ancient strength, ancient wisdom. Wisdom that has propelled every woman who came before you. That wisdom is your birth right. I ask you today, make accessing that wisdom your life’s work, because everything depends on that. F*** the Supreme Court.”

The cheer that erupted following the singer’s words from all sides of the crowd was powerful and moving. A sense of emotion like that is extremely difficult to capture on camera. Sometimes a picture falls short of telling a thousand words.

One friend in our group turned to me and said: “Something terrible like that would never happen over here in this country, though.” Away from the optimism and bright lights of the world-renowned festival, you do have to hope that he was right.

Yours,

Alex Hickson

Deputy picture editor